trolley



l. TROLLEY.

MowlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FlL`ED OCT. I4, 1916.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- ATTYS.

LmoLLEv'.

MowlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION 'FILED OCT. I4. 1916.

1,318,418. I Patented 0@I.14,1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

IIIIIIIIIIII III l I lllll IIIII I 1 X57 Tm: samuel/I vLANnamPu co.,WASHINGTON, rx c.

I. TROLLEY.

MOWING MACHINE.

AfPLlcATloN FILED ocT.14, 191s.

Patented 0015.14,'1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET al /A/ VEA/raf? f llllHIIiIlll 'THE continuan PLANoaRAm60'., WASHINGTON. u; u.

ISAAC TROLLEY, or rocennnnrsrn, NEW 5503K, As's'encn To ivciivn PLOWCOMANY, -A confronarrou or ILLINOIS.

MowrNe-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

@Patented oct, i4, 1919.

Application :tiled October 14, 1916. Serial N'o. 125,547.,

To @ZZ whom t may concern.' 4

Be it known that I, I'sAAo TROLLEY, a citizen Aof the United States,residing at Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements` inMowinlg-Machines, of which the following-,is a specilication, referencebeing h-ad therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to mlowing machines and has reference moreparticularly to the lever mechanism for raising and lowering' the cutterbar, and to the means for operating the clutch controlling the cuttin-gmechanism.

The invention consists of a lever mechanism and cooperating clutchcontrolling mechanism of improved form and construction by means ofwhich, in the raising and lowering movements of the cuttervb'ar, theclutch will be automatically controlled.

The invention consists also, in combination with said mechanism, of afoot operated mechanism of improved form and construction operable toeffect the elevation of the cutter bar to a vlimited eXent withoutdisconnecting the clutch.

The invention consists 'also of improved foot operated means cooperatingwith the clutch controlling means and operable to disconnect the clutchwithout raising` the cutter bar.

In the more Specific embodiment of my invention, the lever mechanism forraising and lowering the cutter bar, is in the form of a hand leveroperatively connected with the cutter bar so that by the operation ofthe lever th'e cutter bar will be respectively raised and lowered, thesaid lever having connected with it a cam adapted to coperate with ashifting clutch-controlling member, the said parts being so relativelyformed and constructed that by the operation of the hand lever in onedirection the clutch will be disconnected, and by the operation of thehand lever in the opposite direction the clutch will be connected, theclutch controlling member being 'capable of a movement relatively to theoperating cam on thehand lever, so that the clutch may be operatedindependently of the hand' lever' andv without raising the cutter bar.The connections between the hand lever and cutter bar are capable of amovement relatively to the hand lever and the clutch controlling memberso that the driver by hisV foot may raise and lower the cutter barwithout disconnectin'g the clutch.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a si'd'eJ elevation partly insection of 'a mowing machine having my invention v'embodied therein, thenear wheel being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view on 1an enlargedV scale, with parts in sectionanjd other parts' brokenaway tov better illustrate the mechanism'.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section of the clutch controllingmechanism.

Referring to the drawings:

l indicates the frame of the machine in which is rotatably @mounted ahorizontal axle 2, to the ends 'of which are loosely 'applied, groundwheelsr clutched as 'usual to the axle so that the latter will berotated in the forward movement of the machine, but when the machine isbacked the ground wheels will rotatey freely on the aXle.

Sustained by the frame ofthe machine at the front is they usual cutterbar 4 connected at its inner end with the frame in such manner that thecutter bar may be swung up and down about a fore and aft horizontal Theknife ro'd of the cutting mechanism receives its motion from the groundwheels, by means of the usual driving` pitman 5 connected at its outerend with the knife rod and connected at its inner end with a crank disk6 on the forward end of a horizontal fore and aft extending drivingshaft 7 journaled in the frame of the machine and provided at its rearend with a bevel pinion 8. The bevel pinion pinion 8 is engaged by abevel gear 9 mounted loosely on 'a horizontal trai'isverselcounter-shaft 10` journaled in `bearings in the frame, whichcountershaft has `on one enfd a spur pinion ll engaged by an internalgear 12 keyed to the a'XleiZ. `Bevel gear 9 is provided with clutchteeth with which cooperate clutch teeth on a clutch member or hub 12aLsplined to the 'counter-shaft, so vthat by shifting the clutch member inopposite directions, the teeth may be engaged or disengaged with eachother,` and in this manner the operation of the drive shaft 7 andconsequently the actuation of the knife rod will be controlled.

y The clutch member 12a is shifted by means of a shifting fork 13carried on a rod 13a 13a will be permitted to react and mounted to slideendwise in a guide 13b on the frame of the machine, the rod beingencircled by a spiral spring 14 bearing respectively against the forkand the end of the guide and tending to maintain the lclutch connected.

The rod 13ais shifted endwise in a direction to disconnect the clutch bymeans of a kwhich will presently appear. The end of the rod 13a extends'through the slot in the curved arm 15 and it is provided on itsextremity with a head 19 bearing against the side of the arm, theopposite side of which bears against the end of the. guide 13b. The sideof the arm 15 which engages the head 19 is beveled at its' lowerportion' to form a cam surface 20, and vabove this cam surface the twosides of the arm are parallel to each other,the result being that whenthe arm is swung down by the rocking of shaft 17, the cam surfaceengaging the head 19 will shift the rod and place the spring 14underftension and disconnect the clutch, and when the arm is swungupwardly, the spring on rod will connect the clutch.

The foregoing mechanism constitutes one form of clutch for controlling'the driving means between the ground wheels and the cutters, whichmechanism, except-in respect to the clutch operating member and themanner of operating the same as willl be more fully describedhereinafter, forms no part of the present invention.

Mounted loosely on a horizontal stud 21 fixed in the framework of themachine, is a rocking lever 22 having a forwardly extendingv arm 23 Vanda rearwardly extending arm 24. The forward arm has pivoted to it, the

upper end of a link 2-5, the lower end of which is operatively connectedwith the cutter bar in such manner that when the link is lifted, thecutter bar will be swung upwardly on its axis, and when the link islowered the cutter bar will be likewise lowered. The rear arm 24 of thislever is provided with a vertical slot 26 in which engages a pin 27 onthe forward end of a rod 2S, which rod extends rearwardly and has itsrear end pivoted as at 29 to a vertical foot lever 30. The lower end ofthe foot lever is pivoted as at 31 to the machine frame and at its upperend it is provided with a pedal 32 to be operated by the drivers foot.The driver occupying the drivers seat X, may by pushing forward on footlever 30, rock the lever 23 on the stud 21 in a counterclockwisedirection, which will swing the wardly on its axis.

forward arm 23 upwardly and raise the link 25 and the cutter bar will beswung up- This mechanism constitutes a means for lifting the cutter barto a limited extent without affecting the driving connection to thecutters, and is employed by the driver for quickly and momentarilyelevating the Y cutter bar a short distance to avoid irregularities orobstructions in the surface of the ground while the` cutters are stilllin action.

.Also loosely mounted on the stud 21 along- `side the rocking lever 22is a hand leve-r 33 which normally when the cutter bar is down and inoperative position, extends vertically:

' in a segment-frame 36 fixed to the machine framing, these notchesbeing so located that the lever may be locked either in a verticalposition with the cutter bar down, or in a rearwardly inclined position(as 'shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1) with the cutter bar elevated toits full extent or in an intermediate position with the cutter barpartially raised and clutch disconnected. The purpose of this lever isto effect the full elevation of the cutter bar to a vertical position,and mechanism is provided, actuated by the lever, for controlling theclutch `operating means in such manner that when the lever is pulled tothe lrear to elevate the cutter bar, the clutch controlling theoperation of the cutters will be thrown out of action, and

when the lever is pushed forward to lower l the cutter bar the clutchwill bey again thrown into action.

This mechanism comprises a clutch controlling member in the form of ahorizontally shifting frame 37, shown more particularly in Fig. 3, whichis actuated by a vertical cam 38 fixed to the lower end of the handlever 33 and extending downwardly below the stud 21. The shifting frame37 is suspended so that it will'shift horizontally forwardly andrearwardly, by means of an upright suspension link 39, the upper end ,ofwhich is provided with a lateral journal 40 loosely mounted in the frameof the machine while its lower end is provided with a horizontal journal41 mounted loosely in a bracket 42 dependingV from the shifting frame,the construction being such that the shifting frame may be swung fromitsrear position as indicated by full lines in Fig. 3, to a forwardposition as shown by dotted lines in saidv figure. The shifting framehas connected with its rear end a rod 48 which extends rearwardly and isprovided at its rear extremity with an eye 44 mounted on the crank arm18 on the rock shaft 17 before alluded to. As a result of thisconstruction and arrangement of the parts, when the shifting frame isshifted forwardly, the crank shaft will be rocked counter-clockwise andwill swing the clutch operating arm 15 downwardly and disconnect theclutch, the shifting of the frame in the opposite direction to itsformer position, causing the clutch operating arm to swing upwardly andpermitting the spring to again connect the clutch, these movements ofthe frame being effected and controlled by the cam 88 on the hand lever88, in the manner now to be described.

The shifting frame contains a vertical slot 87L extending longitudinallytherethrough from end to end, in which slot the cam 88 will extend inthe operation of the hand lever. ln the forward end |of the slot adetent 45 is loosely mounted on a horizontal pivot pin 46 which detentis provided with a forwardly extending horizontal finger 47, with arearwardly extending horizontal finger 48 and with a downwardlyextending finger 49. An expansion spring 50 is seated between the finger49 and the end of the block and tends to hold the detent with its finger47 in engagement with a stop 51 on the block and with the finger 48 in ahorizontal position. A second detent 52 is pivoted on a horizontal pivotpin 58 at the rear end of the slot, which detent is provided with aforwardly extending finger 54 and with a depending finger 55, anexpansion spring 56 being seated between the finger 55 and a lip 56a onthe rod 48, which spring tends to hold the detent with the finger 54 ina horizontal position with a stop shoulder 57'ad thereon in engagementwith a stop lug 58 on the'frame.

The cam 88 before alluded to is provided with a toe 59, with a heel andwith an intermediate tooth 61, these parts being of such form and beingso related to the two detents, that when ther hand lever 88 is pulled tothe rear to elevate the cutter bar, the toe 59 will engage the finger 48of the forward detent and will shift the frame forwardly and therebyactuate the clutch operating arm 15 and effect the disconnection of theclutch; and when the lever is pushed forwardly to lower the cutter bar,the heel 60 of the cam will engage the finger 54 of the rear detent andwill shift the frame to the rear and thereby actuate the clutchoperating arm and disconnect the clutch, the tooth 61 .on the camserving, by engaging the end of finger 48 on the forward detent, to holdthe frame forward with the clutch disengaged, in which position of theparts they are locked by the engagement of the locking latch on the handlever in the intermediate notch 85n in the segment frame.

The operation of the parts to effect the foregoing actions is asfollows: In the normal position of the parts with the cutter bar in ahorizontal operative position, the shifting frame 87 will be in its rearposition, the clutch operating arm 15 will be in its raised positionwith the clutch connected, the hand lever 88 will be in a verticalposition and locked by the engagement of its latch in notch 85 in thesegment frame, and the cam on the lever will be in its rear positionwith the toe 59 some distance in rear 0f finger 48 on the forwarddetent. Vhen now the cutter bar is to be raised, the driver unlocks thehand lever from the segment frame and pulls the lever to the rear. Thefirst portion of the rear movement of the lever will swing the cam 88forwardly and will simultaneously start the raising motion of the cutterbar, this movement of the cam continuing until the toe 59 bringsupagainst linger 48 of the forward detent. T he cutter bar is nowpartially raised and the clutch still connected, this partial elevationof the bar not being sufiicient to cause any binding on or interferencewith the action of the operating pitman for the knife rod, so that thecutting mechanism will still be operative. The knives are thereforeenabled to cut higher from the surface of the ground than when thecutter bar is in a horizontal position, which abnormal action of thecutting mechanism is desirable under certain conditions encountered inthe operation of the machine in the field.

As the hand lever is moved fart-her rearwardly, the toe 59, byengagement with the finger 48 of the forward detent will positivelyshift the frame 87 forwardly, which action will rock the rock shaft 17and will swing the clutch operating arm 15 downwardly and effectdisconnection of the clutch, this position of the parts beingrepresented by the dotted lines in Fig, 8, where it will be seen thatthe toe on the cam is just passing beyond the en d of the finger anddisengaging from the finger. In the movement of the cam j ust described,and due to the forward shift of the shifting frame, the finger of therear detent is brought in the path of the heel of the cam and the reardetent is rocked downwardly en its axis by the heel so that the cam ispermitted to continue its motion witl'iout interference with the reardetent. The clutch is now fully disconnected but the cutter bar onlypartially elevated. The parts may be locked in this position byengagement of the latch on hand lever in intermediate notch 85a. In thethird and final period of the rear movement of the hand lever, the edgeof the cam in rear of the toe moves along the rear finger of the forwarddetent and the tooth 61 on the cam brings up against the finger, thismovement continuing the elevation of the cutter bar but not affectingthe position of the frame 37, and as the movement of the lever continuesstill farther, the-tooth Gl pushes on the finger 48 of the forwarddetent and shifts the frame 37 to a still farther position forwardly,thus completing the final elevation ofthe cutter bar to its verticalposition and causing the clutch operating arm to swing stillY fartherdownwardly with the parallel sides of the arm sliding between the headon the rod 13:L and the end of the guide for said rod. rlihe hand leveris now locked to its segment frame in the lower notch therein, in whichposition the tooth 61 is engaged with the finger of the forward detentand therefore the shifting frame is locked in its forward extremeposition with the clutch disengaged.

When the cutter bar is to be lowered again into action, the hand leveris unlocked and pushed forwardly. In the first period of this movement,the cam in moving rearwardly, will disengage the tooth from the forwarddetent and the heel of the cam will be brought into engagement with thefinger of the rear detent, the movement of the cam thus far beingattended by the partial descent of the cutter bar from its verticalposition and the shifting frame being undisturbed. As the hand lever nowcontinues to move forward, the heel of the cam engaging the rear detentwill shift the frame rearwardly, thereby rocking rock shaft 17 in aclockwise direction and swinging the clutch operating arm 15 upwardlyfrom its lowest position, the parallel sides of the arm sliding betweenthe head on the rod 13a and the guide 13b and therefore maintaining theclutch disconnected. As the cam moves stilll farther rearwardly on thecontinued forward movement of the hand lever, the heel maintainingengagement with the rear detent will shift the frame farther and swingthe clutch operating arm still higher', thereby carrying the cam surface20 along the side of the head on rod 13fL and releasing the rod andpermitting its spring 14C to shift the clutch member and connect theclutch,

" the rear movement of the cam and forward movement of the levercontinuing until the lever is in a vertical position where it is lockedwith the clutch operating armA in the position shown in 3, where it willbe seen that the toe extends in the slot ,in the block midway betweenthe fingers on the two detents so that the block is free to be movedindependently of the cam and connected parts.

Advantage is taken of this condition of the block to permit the clutchto be disconnected without elevating the cutter bar, since in practiceit is sometimes desirable to stop-the operation of the cuttersindependently of the automatic disconnection of the clutch effected bythe elevation of the cutter bar. This independent operation of theclutch is effected through the medium of the lever 16 before alluded toas carrying the clutch operating arm 15, the upper end of the leverbeing provided with a foot pedal 63, so .that the driver by pressingdownwardly thereon may swing the clutch operating arm downwardly andthrow the clutch out of action. In this action ofthe arm the shaft 17will be rocked in a counter-clockwise direction and the shifting frame37 will be shiftedforward idly.

Owing to the fact that when the cutter bar is in raised position, thetooth 61 on the cam bears against the finger of the forward detent, theframe 37 will be locked in its forward position, hence there will be nodanger or liability of the inadvertent operation of the lever 16 by thedriver to connect the clutch.

Due to the form of the clutch controlling mechanismdescribed, the cutterbar is raised some distance before the clutch is thrown out, the extentof elevation of the cutter bar v not being such as to interfere with theproper operation of the knife rod by the driving pitinan, and suchelevation of the bar' with the cutting mechanism operative beingdesirable in order to actL on'the grass farther from the surface of theground than under normal conditions. Also due to the form of my improvedclutch controlling mechanism, the elevation of the cutter bar iscontinued after the clutch has been disconnected, so that it may beraised to its full and eXtreme vertical position without interferencewith or complications by the connect'ionsto the clutch, thedisconnection of the clutch in the elevating action of the cutter bar,taking place at the same point in the movement of the bar as theconnection of the clutch takes place when the cutter bar is lowered. Itwill be seen, therefore, that by my improved mechanism I provide means,

controlled by the foot lever 30, for raising Y and lowering the cutterbar to a limited extent without interfering with the action of thecutters, which operation of the parts is desirable in avoidingobstructions and irregularities in the surface of the ground. Also 1make provision, by means of the foot leverv 16,- for disconnecting theclutch and stopping the operation of the cutting mechanism withoutelevating the cutter bar; and also by the hand lever 33 and the clutchcontrolling mechanism operated thereby, 1 provide for the full andcomplete elevation of the cutter bar and automatically effect thedisconnection of the clutch on the elevation of the bar, and thereconnection of the clutch when the bar is again lowered into action.

In the foregoing description and accompanying drawings, I have set forthmy invention in the particular detailed embodiment which I prefer toadopt, but it will be manifest that the details may be variously changedand modified without departing from the limits of my invention; and itwill be understood that the invention is not limited to any particularform or construction of the parts except in so far as such limitationsare specified in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. In a mowing machine, the combination of a main frame, a cutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, driving mechanism for the cuttersincluding a clutch, a hand lever pivoted on the main frame andoperatively connected with the cutter bar for raising and lowering thesame, a clutch operating mechanism including a frame shiftable inopposite directions to respectively disconnect and connect the clutch,opposing detente on said frame, a member movable with the lever and inposition to engage one of said detents and shift the frame in onedirection toldisconnect the clutch, and a second mem-4 -ber movable withthe lever and in position to of a main frame a cutter bar hinoedthereto' to swing upwardly, driving mechanism for the cutters includinga clutch, a hand lever pivoted on the main frame and operativelyconnected with the cutter bar for raising the same, a clutch operatingmechanism including a shiftable frame, and two projecting members withan idle space between them movable with the lever and acting when thelever is operated to engage the frame in succession and shift the samein the same direction in two successive movements, with a pause betweensaid movements to respectively disconnect the clutch and thereafterelevate the cutter bar to its full raised position.

3. In a mowing machine, the combination of a main frame, a cutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, driving mechanism for the cuttersincluding a clutch, a hand lever pivoted to the main frame andoperatively connected with the cutter bar for raising the same,clutchoperating mechanism including a shiftable frame, two projectingmembers with an idle space between them movable with the lever one inadvance of the other, the .front member being in positionto engage theshiftable frame and disconnect the clutch, the said idle space adaptedto traverse the shiftable frame without moving it, and the rear memberbeing in position to abut against the shiftable frame after the clutchis disconnected, and after the lever has been moved to elevate thecutterbar to its full raised position, and means forL locking the leverin position on the main frame with the rear member engaged with theshiftable frame.

4. In a mowing machine, the combination of a main frame, a cutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, driving mechanism for the cuttersincluding a clutch, a hand lever pivoted on the main frame andoperatively connected with the cutter bar for raising the same, a clutchoperating mechanism including a shiftable frame, and two projectingspaced members movable with the lever one in advance of the other, thefront member being in position to engage the shiftable frame and movethe same to disconnect the Y clutch, and the rear member being inposition to engage the shiftable frame after the clutch is disconnectedand shift said frame idly in effecting the final raising movement of thecutter bar, said rear member engaging the shifting frame at the end ofits movement and serving to lock the clutch disengaged.

5. 1n a mowing machine, the combination of a main frame, a cutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, driving mechanism for the cuttersincluding a clutch, a hand lever pivoted on the main frameandoperatively connected with the cutter bar for raising and lowering thesame, a clutch operating mechanism including a, frame shiftableforwardly and rearwardly to respectively disconnect and connect theclutch, a front detent and a rear detent on said member, and a cani onthe lever movable forwardly and backwardly in the operation of thelever, said cam being formed with a toe and with a lug in rear of thetoe, said toe and lug acting when the cam is moved forwardly, to engagethe front detent in succession and shift the frame forwardly in twosuccessive movements.

6. ln a mowing machine, the combination of a main frame, a cutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, driving mechanism for the cuttersincluding a clutch, a hand lever pivoted on the main frame andoperatively connected with the cutter bar for raising and lowering thesame, a clutch operating mechanism including a frame shiftable forwardlyand backwardly to respectively disconnect and connect the clutch, a cammovable with the lever, said cam being provided with a toe in positionto engage the shifts able frame and disconnectthe clutch when the cam ismoved forwardly, being provided with an idle space in rear of the toeadapted to traverse the shiftable frame without moving it and beingprovided also with a lugy in rear of the toe at the rear end of the idlespace in position to abut'against the shiftable frame after the clutchis disengaged and after the lever has been further moved to elevate thecutter bar to its iinal raised position. and means for. locking thelever in position on the main frame with the lug'engaged with theshiftable frame. Y

In a mowing machine, the combination of a main frame, a cutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, driving mechanism Jfor the cuttersincluding a clutch, a hand lever pivotedon the main frame andoperatively connected with the cutter bar for raising the' same,a'clutch operating mechanism including a shiftable frame movable for-`wardly'to disconnect the clutch and mov` able in the same directionafter the clutch is disconnected, and a cam movable with the lever andprovided with a part in position to engage the shiftable frame and movethe same to disconnect the clutch, and provided with an idle space inrear of said part adapted to traverse the shiftable frame without movingit, and provided also with another part at the rear end of said idlespace in position to engage the said frame and move the same idly in theinal raising movement of the cutter bar after the clutch isdisconnected.

8. In aV mowing machine, the combination of a main frame, acutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, driving mechanism for the cuttersincluding a clutch, a hand lever pivoted onthe main frameand'operatively connected with the cutter bar for raising -the same, aclutch operating mechanism including a shiftable frame, a front detentandv a' rear detent on said shiftable frame, and a cam movable with thelever, said cam Copies of this patent may be obtained for 'five centseach, 'by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents being provided with atoe and with a lug in position respectively to engage they front detentin succession, and move the frame forwardly to disconnect the clutch,and said cam being provided also with a heel in posi tion to engage thereark detent and shift the said frame rearwardlyto connect the clutch.

9. In a mowing machine, the combination of a main frame,a cutter barhinged thereto to swing upwardly, a driving mechanism for the cuttersincluding a" clutch, a hand lever pivoted on the main frame and opera-ltively connected with the cutter bar for raising and lowering the same,a clutch operating mechanism including a shiitable frame,'a front and arear detent on saidV 10. In a mowing machine, the combina- I tion of amain frame, a cutter barv hingedy thereto to swing upwardly, a drivingmechanism for the cutters including a clutch, a hand lever pivoted tothe main frame and operatively connected with the cutter bar for raisingand lowering the same, a clutch operating mechanism including ashiftable frame, detents mounted at the opposite ends of the shiftableframe,

and a cam .on the lever in position tofcooperate'with said detents inshifting thev frame in opposite directions to respectively connect anddisconnect the clutch, said de-v tents being yieldable in one directionto permit the cam to pass one detent when it acts on the other. e

In testimony whereof, I have aiiXed my signature.

ISAAC TROLLEY.

Washington, D. G.Y

